


Regrets

by LadyBrooke



Category: The Hobbit - All Media Types, The Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien, The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-14
Updated: 2013-05-14
Packaged: 2017-12-11 21:27:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 304
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/803437
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyBrooke/pseuds/LadyBrooke
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Saruman has made his choice, but even in the depths of his fall, there remains parts of his old life.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Regrets

If his Orcs think his orders strange, they do not speak of it in his presence.

Saruman the Great is their leader, and his will above all else rules theirs. And if he says that they are to leave the odd man in the woods alone, they do so.

As the creatures flee and scurry away to hide from the approaching enemy, Radagast grabs his hedgehogs and his birds and tries to hide. Thranduil's gates are too far away for him to reach. There is a strange symbol set on these Orcs, a white hand. Radagast knows this should remind him of something, but he can't remember what.

They have spotted him, but make no move to attack. Radagast holds his breath, knowing that attacking would be a fool's move, and only by not doing so can he hope to escape and make his way to warn the others. When they have passed, he hurries towards the gates. Thranduil must be warned, and the Men and Dwarves as well.

Saruman watches from his tower, his gaze reaching farther than it ever has before. He does not check on Gandalf or the Blue Wizards, only Radagast. He tries to ignore the faint stirrings of regret in his mind, as he remembers the promise that Aulë extracted from him in Valinor and his own slight affection for the lesser wizard. Only when his Orcs have bypassed Radagast completely, continuing their search for the Halfling, does he turn his gaze elsewhere.

And in Valinor, Aulë weeps at the loss of another of his former students to the darkness. Curumo, who even in his fall cannot bring himself to completely break the ties and ideals from his former life. It is a habit of Aulë's former students, and it makes it all the worse for him to watch.


End file.
